


Bedtime Stories

by hunters_retreat



Series: Further Interruptions [26]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Al is the best uncle ever, Kid Fic, M/M, Roy and Al are brothers-in-law, Two Year Olds, domestic fic, how weird is that?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-07 19:21:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16859857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunters_retreat/pseuds/hunters_retreat
Summary: There was squealing in the other room and Al couldn’t help but smile at the sound of his niece and nephew.  Only two years old and already he couldn’t imagine a day in his life without them.  He had a habit of spoiling them rotten.





	Bedtime Stories

 

“Love?”

Alphonse heard the voice from the other room and he called back.  “Only if you traded up for a younger model.”  A second later, the kitchen door opened and the General walked in.

“My favorite Elric,” Roy said with a warm smile as he came in the room.  “To what do we owe the honor?”

“I stopped by to borrow your library.” No matter what resources Alphonse had at his disposal in the university, the military usually had something better.  It was one of the reasons why Ed was still attached to the military.  He’d left the military when his contract expired after Aerugo, but he was now a contractor with the intelligence department.  Alphonse wasn’t above using his brother’s contacts to get access to books he wanted. 

Sometimes, he was lucky enough that the books he needed were sitting in his brother’s library though. 

“And how did you end up cooking dinner?”

“Brother forgot to pick something up at the store.  And when he tried to leave Tishy started yelling “tore!tore!tore!”

“So, he ended up with the twins at the store while you’re cooking.”

“Exactly.  I love my brother but I don’t think I can handle shopping with two-year-olds today.”

“What can I do?” Roy asked as he walked around the counter.  Alphonse pointed to the vegetables he’d put aside for a salad and the General folded his sleeves up and began chopping.  They continued in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

“Rough day?”

Alphonse sighed.  “I love teaching my younger students.  They want to learn and they try so hard.”

“But?” Roy asked.

“The alkahestry lessons for alchemists are so frustrating sometimes.”

“You mean the alchemists trying to learn from you are a pain in the ass,” his brother-in-law interpreted.

“Yeah.  The Waterfall Alchemist keeps arguing the forms.  Just because he knows Xingese doesn’t mean he knows alkahestry and the alphabet forms they use.”  Al took one last look at the casserole in the oven and went to wash his hands.  “How was your day?”

“Meetings.  All day long.  I thought I was going to fall asleep in the last one until Armstrong elbowed me so hard I started coughing.”

Alphonse smiled.  “At least you have Alex there to keep you awake.”

“I could have done without the lecture afterwards about sleep and the secret sleep remedy passed down through the Armstrong Family for generations.”

Alphonse laughed at the familiar phrase.  He was about to ask exactly what the remedy for sleeplessness was – except the lack of two-year-olds – that Armstrong recommended, when he heard the front door.

Roy was putting the finishing touches on the salad, so Alphonse left him in the kitchen to see to his brother. 

“Ed?”

“Al! Al!” Tishy yelled.

“Uncy Al!” Maes yelled with her.

“Hey!  Did you guys have a good shopping trip?”

Ed had a bag in each hand and a disheveled look as he closed the door behind him. 

“Smells good, Al.”

“Go get washed up!” Roy came into the hallway and the twins ran to him, wrapping their arms around his legs.  He laughed and corralled the kids towards the bathroom to get them cleaned up. 

Alphonse took a bag from Ed and followed his brother into the kitchen. 

“When did Roy get home?”

“Long enough to make the salad,” Alphonse said.  “Bad night last night?”

Ed had bags under his eyes and neither of them looked like they had gotten any sleep last night.  Alphonse had noticed it when he got there but he hadn’t had time to talk to Ed about it.

“Tishy woke up coughing.  We’d just got her to sleep when Maes woke up.”

“Ah.”

“I appreciate you starting dinner while I was out.  I forgot half of what I needed to buy when I took the kids earlier.”

“It’s not a problem, Ed,” Alphonse reassured his brother.  “I was going to stay for dinner and steal books in your library anyway.”

There was squealing in the other room and Al couldn’t help but smile at the sound of his niece and nephew.  Only two years old and already he couldn’t imagine a day in his life without them.  He had a habit of spoiling them rotten.

Roy came back into the room, smiling.

“What did you do, Bastard?” his brother asked Roy.

“I promised them Uncle Al was spending the night and would read them a bed time story.”

“Tricky! I like it,” Ed said as Roy came up behind him and pressed a kiss to his neck.

Alphonse rolled his eyes at their antics, but it never failed to make him smile.  It had taken them a long time to get there, but they were happy. 

“What if I had plans?”

“You do,” Roy answered.  “Dinner.  Reading your niece and nephew a bedtime story.  Studying in the library.  We all know you’ll fall asleep with your face in the book.”

He wanted to deny it, but it was true.     Besides, with the hectic nature of their lives, sometimes it was good to just sit back, relax, and enjoy his family. 

   


End file.
